Guy insulating and grading means



y 3 E. c. VROOMAN 2,003,225

GUY INSULATING AND GRADING MEANS Original Filed Sept. 4, 1-930 2 Sheets-Sheet l A; "n" Him I 1! Hm 3 y 1935. E. c. VROOMAN 2,003,225

GUY INSULATING AND GRADING MEANS Original Filed Sept. 4, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 28, 1935 2,003,225

2,003,225 GUY INSULATING AND GRADING MEANS Edward C. Vro oman, Schenectady, N. Y., assignor to Locke Insulator Corporation, Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland Original Application September 4,1930, Serial No. 479,755. Divided and this application August 24, 1932, Serial No. 630,266

7 Claims. (Cl. 173-366) This application is a division of my co-pendof electrical stresses which if unchecked might ing application for Guy insulating and grading seriously interfere with the action, it being remeans, filed September 4, 1930 and given Serial membered thatzhigh frequency or radio currents, No. 479,755. with" their peculiar characteristics, are to be The invention relates to strain insulators parhandled. 5

ticularly adapted for use in connection with an Another object of the invention is to provide aerial. mast intended to be used as an antenna a guy strain insulator arrangement embodying in radio communication,"the use being, however, porcelain and metallic parts between which the not limited in this respect as a wide variety of spacing may be varied so as to establish a proper uses will naturally suggest themselves. potential gradient necessary to provide an in- 10 It is easily conceivable that a tall mast consulated support for any type of radio or high structed of course of metal is quite suitable for frequency apparatus which would require an inemployment as an antenna for sending out radio sulated support having the mechanical characfrequency currents. However, in the case of a teristics of a suspension insulator.

mast used for such purpose it is quite apparent A still further object is to provide a guy strain 15 that it must be insulated from the ground. The insulator construction and arrangement which problem presented in case of a small or light inwill be simple and inexpensive to construct and stallation is comparatively minorfbut in the case assemble, positive in action, fllcient and durable of a very large and heavy mast, a serious probin service, and a general improvement in the art.

lem presents itself, namely the effective guying To the attainment of the foregoing and other 20 of the structure while maintaining it in insuobjects and advantages, the invention preferably lated relation to the ground. Furthermore while consists in the details of construction and the the ordinary type of guy strain insulator may arrangement and combination of parts to be be suggested as a solution, the fact remains that hereinafter more fully described and claimed,

arranging or locating in the field about mast the and illustrated in the accompanying drawings 25 necessary number of insulators of this type of a in which: bulk suificient to withstand the mechanical Figure 1 is a side elevation of an aerial mast, strains imposed upon them affects the electroportions of the successive sections being broken static field and not only upsets the balance but away, and portions of the guys being broken causes serious losses. away, but showing one complete guy with strain 30 It is with the above facts in view that I have insulators therein constructed in accordance with devised the present invention which has for its various forms of the invention,

general object the provision of a novel arrange- Figure 2 is a side elevation of the adjustable ment of strain insulators, and also a novel cOntype of strain insulator, struction of the insulators themselves, for inter- Figure 3 is a horizontal cross section taken on 35 position in the guys for an aerial mast to be the line 33 of Figure 2.

used as an antenna, or for any other possible Figure 4 is a side elevation of one of the inpurposesuch for instance as the suspension of sulating units alone,

an antenna, a high tension transmission con- Figure 5 is an elevation thereof taken at right cluctor, or the like. angles to Figure 4, 0

An important object of the invention is to Figure 6 is a plan view, provide guy strain insulators of peculiar con- Figure 7 is a fragmentary section showing the struction so that they will have the minimum seat construction employed in Figure 2, bulk while yet possessing suflicient strength to Figure 8 is a side elevation of one element support or sustain the load imposed upon them, showing a modification, and 45 the reduction in the bulk correspondingly re- Figure 9 is a cross section on the line 9-9 ducing the losses. of Figure 8.

Another important object of the invention is Referring more particularly to the drawings, to provide a guy strain insulator arrangement I have shown an aerial mast indicated as a embodying di-electric and metallic elements, the whole by the numeral l0 mounted upon and in- 50 latter being so arranged with respect to the sulated from a suitable base or foundation ll former as to bring about the proper potential and formed of a plurality of superposed secgradient along the guys so that the electrotions I2 which may be of any desired number static field about the mast and guys may be kept and length and secured together in any preuniform, thereby preventing the concentration ferred manner. Obviously it is necessary to guy 55 a mast of such a type and I have therefore shown it as equipped at intervals with peripheral bands if! having ears thereon to which are connected guys M which are in turn to be com nected with some suitable anchors l6 securely fastened with respect to the ground. as it is intended that the mast be insulated it becomes necessary to interpose insulating means within the guys and the present invention has to do with the construction and arrangement of this particular means.

In accordance with my invention I plan to use peculiarly constructed guy strain insulators which may be used alone or which may be combined with metallic elements, certain of which may be adjusted, so as to balance the electrostatic field or to establish the proper potential gradient. Figures 4, 5 and 6 show these individual guy strain members 06 in detail while Figure 1 shows them interposed in a guy either alone or combined with the metallic elements referred! to. Each member it may be said to comprise, two semicircular or substantially crescent shaped portions fll arranged at right angles to each other so as to be X-shaped or cruciform in top or bottom plan. These portions are of course integral with each other and the arrangement is such that the convex edge l8 of each portion is opposite the convex side or edge of-the other. In other words the convex edge of one portion is at the sides and top while the convex edge of the other portion extends from the sides around the bottom. 'Ihese convex edges are shown as grooved at 119 for the reception of bridles 2d formed in or connected with the guy, or for the reception of metallic loop or bridle members 20 as shown at the upper portion of Figure l and in greater detail in Figure 2. The grooves may be hat in cross section as in Figure 7 if preferred. For

the sake of reducing the bulk of the mebers it, which incidentally are preferably formed of porcelain, the edges opposite the convex edges it) may be cut away as shown at As another means for reducing the mass of dielectric material the portions Ill! are preferably concaved or dished out at their sides as shown in Figures 8 and 9 though they may be made hollow extending from the cut away edges as shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6 so as to leave only comparatively thin bearing portions 23 which are engaged by the bridles 263 or 29 as the case y be. In either event, but especially in view of the thinness of the material at these bearing seats if the second plan be adopted, it is advisable to provide a liner of lead or other ductile metal or material for instance as shown in either of the patents to Gouverneur No. 1312,- 556 granted May 14th, 1929 and covering improvements in Insulator suspension links, or No. 1,712,557 granted May 14th, 1929 and cov ering improvements in liners, the idea being that such material may flow or creep under strain and cause an equalization of the strains brought upon the dielectric material by the bridles instead of permitting these strains to be concentrated at any high spots, all as pointed out in the patents referred to. ll. "-1 lightening of the porcelain members may be effected by forming them with transverse holes 241 as clearly indicated in Figures 4- to ti.

Assuming that the individual members it have been constructed as shown and described, it is clear that anynecessary or desired number thereofmay be interposed in each of the accasoe guys l6 and it is also apparent that these members may be spaced apart at any distances found suitable by the simple plan of using shorter or longer bridles or guy elements or sections, the nor of insulating members depending upon the electrical potential to be borne by them and their spacing depending upon the frequency or potential of the electro-static held about the mast. Instead of using the bridles or guy sections it alone or directly, use may be made of a somewhat frame-like bridle mem-' ber 25 having one end embracing the convex edge l8v of one portion ll of an insulator it and its other and connected with a guy ection or bridle as shown at 20 in Figure l, a transverse member 271 being provided between the arms of the member 25 to prevent collapsing.

A very important feature of the invention is the arrangement for adjusting the capacity effect more accurately than by the simple scheme of initially spacing the insulating members a certain predetermined distance apart. Figure 2 shows this arrangement in ample detail to give a thorough understanding of the invention in this respect. Referring to this figure, it is of course clear that there are two of the members 06 used connected by the bridle member 20 above described. The distinctive characteristic of this modification is the provision of a pair of transverse metallic members 28 extending across the bridle 2i and adjustable longitudinally thereof with respect to each other and to the insulators 86. The mechanical construction permitting this justed position being efiected as by means ofset screws 30.

In assembling the structure, any one of the arrangements above referred to, or any combination of such arrangements, for instance as shown in Figure 1, may be resorted to in connection with each guy and it is apparent that when all of the guys are connected with the successive bands 98 on the mast and are in turn connected with the anchors 65 the mast will be adequately supported. By properly positioning the succemive strain insulator units it throughout the length capacity effect of the insulators may be substantially modified and taken advantage of for the proper grading of the electro-static field about the mast, or other apparatus which is supported by this device. In connection with the subject of grading of insulators reference might well be had to the patent to Peek granted December 31st, 1929, covering improvements in tim supports, and numbered 1,741,333, which patent contains a discussion of the principles involved in connection, at least, with the I'Amim of a series of insulators. Other art on this general subject is also available. However, it is one of the important features of my invention that e bulk or mass of porcelain is reduced to the minimum, it being well known that if large masses were employed in the manner set forth in this application there would be a most undesired effect on the radio frequency currents handled. This is particularly true on account of the present day tendency to employ extremely short wave lengths in radio transmission, the frequencies being high and the losses in the porcelain being correspondingly great. The need for proper grading is of course necessarily more acute.

At the same time, due regard has been given to the question of insuring adequate mechanical strength of the insulator units to withstand the rather severe loads to which they are subjected and which would unavoidably be very grave in case of an unusually high mast. This is a point of importance when it is considered that a mast for the purpose set forth may easily have a height of, say, six hundred feet or so.

Concluding, it is believed from the foregoing description and a study of the drawings that the construction, operation and advantages should and will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art without further explanation.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that the disclosure is merely an exemplification of the principles involved as the right is reserved to make all such changes in the details of construction as will widen the field of utility and increase the adaptability of the device provided such changes constitute no departure from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

Having thus described the invention, I claim: 1. A strain insulator comprising a unitary body of dielectric material including a pair of substantially crescent shaped portions intersect ing at right angles with their outer edges of oppositely curved convex shape and grooved, the other edges being of hollow form to define relatively thin wall portions at the base of the grooves in the convex edges.

2. A strain insulator comprising a unitary body of dielectric material including a pair of substantially crescent shaped portions intersecting at right angles with their outer edges of oppositely curved convex shape and grooved, the other edges being of hollow form to define relatively thin wall portions at the base of the grooves in the convex edges, and said second named edges being partially cut away to reduce the weight.

3. A strain insulator comprising a unitary body of dielectric material including a pair of substantially crescent shaped portions intersecting at right angles with their outer edges of oppositely curved convex shape and grooved, the other edges being of hollow form to define relatively thin wall portions at the base of the grooves in the convex edges, said second named edges being partially cut away to reduce the weight, and said portions being apertured to reduce the bulk of the dielectric material.

4. A guy strain insulator comprising a pair of strain insulator elements each having interlinking curved seats, metallic bridle members engaging about corresponding seats, a pair of metallic elements carried by one of said bridle members and slidably adjustable toward and from each other therealong, and means for maintaining an adjusted position.

5. A guy strain insulator comprising a pair of strain insulator elements each having interlinking curved seats, a metallic bridle member connecting said elements and engaging about corresponding seats, and a plurality of metallic elements extending across and connecting the sides of the bridle member in cooperative relation to each other to grade the electro-static field, said metallic elements being shiftable to vary their distance apart and their distance from the insulator elements.

6. A guy strain insulator comprising a pair of strain insulator elements each having interlinking curved seats, a metallic bridle member engaging about corresponding seats, and a plurality of metalic elements extending across and carried by the bridle member and adjustable therealong with respect to each other independently of a next adjacent insulator.

7. A guy strain insulator comprising a pair of strain insulator elements each having interlinking curved seats, a metallic bridle member engaging about corresponding seats, a plurality of metallic elements bridging the bridle member and having terminal sleeve portions slidable along the sides thereof whereby the metallic elements may be adjusted toward or from each other and with respect to the adjacent insulator elements, and means carried by said sleeve por- 

